California Insider

A Weblog by
Sacramento Bee Columnist Daniel Weintraub

December 9, 2005

Governor names Republicans to two key jobs

The governor has appointed Fred Aguiar as his cabinet secretary and Dan Dunmoyer to a new position as deputy chief of staff for policy development. Both are Republicans. Aguiar, a former legislator currently serving as Secretary of the State and Consumer Services Agency, will replace Terry Tamminen, who moves to an undefined job as an advisor to the governor. Dunmoyer is a former legislative aide and insurance industry lobbyist. The position he is filling is a new one.

Other shoe

The governor has appointed Peter Siggins, his former legal counsel and acting chief of staff, to the First District Court of Appeal, and elevated Ignazio Ruvolo from associate justice to presiding justice of that court.

'One of the more conservative'

Here is a short profile from law.com of Carol Corrigan, the justice Schwarzenegger has appointed to the state Supreme Court. It says she is one of the more conservative justices on the first district on criminal justice issues. I guess we can start a list now of major decisions the governor makes that do not appear to have been pulled to the left by Susan Kennedy.

Note: The first draft of this post incorrectly quoted the item as saying she was one of the "most conservative" members of the court.

UPDATE: An emailer sends along an LA Times story from Oct. 21, which I can't find a link to online, where Corrigan describes herself as a "centrist" in the mold of Sandra Day O'Connor.

The relevant excerpt:

Corrigan, 57, a former prosecutor, described herself as a "centrist."

"I think I would probably be a centrist any place I found myself," she said

Deukmejian appointed Corrigan to the Alameda County Municipal Court in 1987, and former Gov. Pete Wilson elevated her to the Superior Court and then the Court of Appeal.

Corrigan said she changed her voter registration from Democrat to Republican in the mid-1990s because "that seemed the most accurate designation" at the time.

"I haven't changed," she said. "I think the political environment may have changed, and it continues to evolve in this country."

Asked which present or former U.S. Supreme Court justices she admires, Corrigan cited Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. "I think she is a centrist … a real consensus builder," Corrigan said.